Outkicking in Races (Read 547 times)

It's a race, go for it. I've done my fair share of outkicking. Including once where the map I saw before was scaled really badly and I where thought the ~100m mark was was closer to 1km from the end

However, I'm with SRL, if you push in front right at the finish line, that's dirty. I had that happen at our regional meet back in high school, and was quite ticked. Looking back it's borderline amusing as we were around 100 out of 250 or so people and at no risk for moving on, but at the time it wasn't.

'No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everyone on the couch'

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher

"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run." -Monte Davis

It's a race, go for it. I've done my fair share of outkicking. Including once where the map I saw before was scaled really badly and I where thought the ~100m mark was was closer to 1km from the end

However, I'm with SRL, if you push in front right at the finish line, that's dirty. I had that happen at our regional meet back in high school, and was quite ticked. Looking back it's borderline amusing as we were around 100 out of 250 or so people and at no risk for moving on, but at the time it wasn't.

Yeah, I thought it was bad form when a guy full-on tackled me from behind (double-armed bear hug around the shoulders, throwing me into the pavement at 5:30 pace) in a HM last year less than 1/2 mile in. Perhaps his map was just scaled wrong?

At least chicks dig scars...

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

Yeah, I thought it was bad form when a guy full-on tackled me from behind (double-armed bear hug around the shoulders, throwing me into the pavement at 5:30 pace) in a HM last year less than 1/2 mile in. Perhaps his map was just scaled wrong?

Yeah, I thought it was bad form when a guy full-on tackled me from behind (double-armed bear hug around the shoulders, throwing me into the pavement at 5:30 pace) in a HM last year less than 1/2 mile in. Perhaps his map was just scaled wrong?

At least chicks dig scars...

I think you misunderstood me. I started my kick at the point which I thought was ~100m from the end going by the map.. I discovered a bit late that it was closer to 1km from the end and thought I would die; being a cross country course I couldn't see to know where the end was while running the race. This case was the scale.

However, when you can see the end of the race, and it is obviously quite close [such as when you were tackled], that is just dirty and wrong.

And chicks dig scars?? I missed the memo apparently

'No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everyone on the couch'

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher

"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run." -Monte Davis

It's a race, go for it. I've done my fair share of outkicking. Including once where the map I saw before was scaled really badly and I where thought the ~100m mark was was closer to 1km from the end

However, I'm with SRL, if you push in front right at the finish line, that's dirty. I had that happen at our regional meet back in high school, and was quite ticked. Looking back it's borderline amusing as we were around 100 out of 250 or so people and at no risk for moving on, but at the time it wasn't.

Are you saying that "cutting someone off by impeding them" is dirty, or that "doing the traditional lean across the line to try to win" is dirty?

I rely on my kick for race performance--esp. in track it's a big advantage I have since I don't have the endurance for other strategies like surging but have good closing speed. Not sure what's wrong with that... for me the kick is separate from the race effort, it's not like I've been holding back. Plus, isn't that the whole fun of the race? To match paces with someone and then see if you have enough left to smoke them at the end?

I think what they're talking about is runners who pass you, then move right in front of you and slow down. It's kinda like the slow poke in the left lane of a two-lane highway you're about to pass on the right who suddenly changes into your lane without using their signal so you have to break to avoid rear-ending them.

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the fight in the dog. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

As a middle-of-the-packer, I'm only really ever racing myself. I will never win a race, and with an Olympic champ and some other world-class runners in my town, I will never win my age group. Still, I tend to pick random people at a race & try to beat them. If I pass one target successfully, I'll choose another. At a 5K I did in December, someone did that to me. The finish line was just over a little foot bridge, & I was cruising in when someone zoomed past me on my left & finished a few seconds before me. After I crossed the finish, she turned around and told me she had been trying to catch me the whole time. That actually made me pretty happy, and I was glad she caught up & out-kicked me.

It's a race. Run fast and beat as many people as you can while maintaining a spirit of camaraderie.

I'm learning that when I can evenly pace myself, there's not a huge kick left, but I still pour on whatever I have left in me, regardless of who is around me. I was closing in on a guy that I know for the last couple of miles of my 10k yesterday, kicked and tried to catch him, but didn't quite make it. He's not even in my age group, but trying to catch him helped me give a decent kick.

At one of my recent 5ks, I was going back and forth with a woman who ended up trailing off my shoulder for the last 3/4 mile or so and then outkicked me to the finish. No big deal, it was fun and added a lil extra to the race. We high fived each other afterwards. I don't get why people would get upset over something like that.

I'm so glad I found this thread. I really turned it up over the last 400 meters in my first HM, and I felt bad for passing so many people right at the end. I thought it was a little unfair for a couple of days, but I also felt bad that I felt bad. Thanks to this thread, I have justification! I will never feel bad for kicking at the end again. Because it is a race!